Al/Li half-cell corrosion test
There was current augmentation at 3.1 V during the first cycle of all electrolytes, as shown in Fig. 1(a-e). The current intensity of each electrolyte's CV curve decreased and showed good overlap as the number of cycles increased. Among these, no corrosion current was produced in the CV curves despite the LiODFB levels in the E3 and E4 electrolytes being below 0.3 mol/L or less. As a result, it is thought that raising the LiTFSI concentration in the electrolyte can partially prevent the corrosion of aluminum foil.
To confirm once more that increasing the LiTFSI concentration can stop aluminum foil from corroding. Al/Li half-cells with various electrolyte systems underwent timed current tests at 70°C. The cells were maintained at a voltage of 4.2 volts for 12 hours, during which the current change was monitored. According to Fig. 1(g), E3 electrolyte takes approximately 5 hours to produce a corrosion current at 4.2V, whereas the E4 electrolyte requires just 10 hours to produce a corrosion current. This suggests that while raising the LiTFSI concentration in the electrolyte will partially stop the corrosion, it cannot stop the electrolyte from corroding the aluminum foil.
Stripping/plating test for lithium metal anode
To further confirm the improvement in interfacial stability, the CE of Li/Cu cells with E1, E2, and E5 electrolytes was measured; the results are displayed in Fig. 1(f). Both cells underwent two cycles of 0 to 2.5 V at a current density of 0.05 mA/cm2 to stabilize and activate the interfacial layer before testing. Li was initially deposited on the Cu electrode at a current density of 1 mA/cm2 with a capacity of 1 mAh/cm2 and then peeled from the Cu foil at a cutoff voltage of 1 V and 1 mA/cm2. For the Li/Cu cell with E5 electrolyte, the CE values exhibit modest changes in 50 cycles. On the contrary, for the Li/Cu cell containing E1 and E2 electrolyte systems, there are significant fluctuations at the start of the cycle, indicating that the cycling stability of the E1 and E2 electrolyte systems has not improved despite an increase in the concentration of lithium salts, which could be due to electrolyte formation on the electrode surface. The SEI coating on the electrode surface is not sufficiently stable.
The constant current discharge curves of Li/Cu half-cells built using various electrolytes are displayed in Fig. 1(h). It makes evident that each electrolyte's overpotential and plateau potential vary significantly from one another. Among these, the difference between the overpotential and the plateau potential is the nucleation overpotential of the lithium ion. E5 electrolyte has the shortest nucleation overpotential of the three electrolytes, while E1 electrolyte has the biggest nucleation overpotential. This suggests that as the concentration of electrolyte increases, the nucleation overpotential progressively lowers. Lithium has a reduced nucleation and growth barrier when its nucleation overpotential is lower. As a result, the E5 electrolyte's lower nucleation overpotential is beneficial to lithium metal battery performance at high temperatures.
Figure 1(i) depicts the cyclic voltammetry test plots of Li/Cu cells with varying electrolytes. The decreased peak at 1.7 V can be attributable to the decomposition of LiODFB, and because the LiODFB content in the three electrolytes is the same, the peak currents here do not differ significantly. The peak at 1.1 V corresponds to the decomposition of LiTFSI. The decomposition current of LiTFSI in E5 electrolyte is greater than that of the other two electrolytes, indicating that E5 electrolyte contains more TFSI−anions in the lithium-ion solvation layer. The peak currents of the E1 and E2 electrolyte systems, on the other hand, are quite close, indicating that the amount of TFSI− anions present in the lithium-ion solvation layer is not significantly different between these two concentration electrolyte systems.
The cycling curves of Li/Li symmetric cells built with various electrolytes are displayed in Fig. 1(j) The fixed capacity and current density were set to 1 mAh/cm2 and 1 mA/cm2, respectively, as illustrated. The symmetric battery with E5 electrolyte was able to cycle steadily for more than 200 hours at 70°C, however the Li/Li symmetric battery with E1 and E2 electrolytes was extremely unstable and difficult to cycle for more than 200 hours, similar to the Li/Cu battery. The distinct SEI coatings that develop on the electrode surfaces of these three electrolytes may be the reason for the glaring differences in their cycling performance.
Comparing the Magnification Performance of Li/Li symmetric cells with various electrolytes reveals, as seen in Fig. 1(k), that the cells overpotentials rise at current densities between 0.1 and 2 mA/cm2. This is because an increase in current density causes a large number of ions to be adsorbed at the electrode/electrolyte interface, resulting in a rapid decrease in the electrolyte ion concentration at the interface, an increase in concentration polarization, and a subsequent increase in the overpotential. Through a comparison of the battery's overpotential at 1 mA/cm2 and 2 mA/cm2 current densities with various electrolytes, it can be observed that E5 electrolyte has the lowest overpotential. For large current intensities, this suggests that E5 electrolyte performs better multiplicatively and exhibits less polarization. The efficient electrolyte film production on the electrode surface and the quick detachment/embedding of lithium ions during high current density charging and discharging, which put more strain on the mechanical strength of the SEI layer, may be connected to the good multiplicity performance.This suggests further that high-temperature lithium metal battery performance is improved by the E5 electrolyte.
The impedance profiles of several electrolytes following a cycle from 30 to 70 degrees Celsius are displayed in Fig. 2(a-c). The Li/Li symmetric cell with E5 electrolyte has the lowest impedance, as can be seen in the image. Arrhenius' law is used to compute Ea in Fig. 2(d). The E5 electrolyte system's activation energy (64.98 kJ/mol) is less than that of the E1 and E2 electrolyte systems (66.95 and 66.25 kJ/mol). The kinetics in the E5 electrolyte system are better, according to this investigation.
Electrochemical performance test of LiCoO2/Li full battery
Table 2
Cyclic discharge specific capacity of different electrolyte systems
electrolyte | First discharge specific capacity mAh/g | 200th discharge specific capacity mAh/g | Specific capacity of the 500th discharge mAh/g | capacity retention % |
E1 | 144.1 | Cannot complete 200 cycles | Cannot complete 500 cycles | - |
E2 | 143.3 | Cannot complete 200 cycles | Cannot complete 500 cycles | - |
E5 | 142.2 | 133.6 | 117.8 | 82.8% |
LiCoO2/Li constructed with various electrolyte systems underwent charge/discharge cycling testing; Fig. 2(e) presents the findings. The charge-discharge cycle performance of LiCoO2/Li batteries constructed with various electrolyte systems was investigated at 70°C. The first discharge-specific capacities of the three electrolytes are E1-144 mAh/g, E2-143.3 mAh/g, and E5-142.2 mAh/g, respectively, as indicated in Table 2. As the concentration of the electrolyte increases, the specific capacity of the first discharge of the electrolyte decreases due to the negative correlation between the concentration of the electrolyte and conductivity After 500 cycles, the LiCoO2/Li full cell in the E5 electrolyte system had a discharge specific capacity of 117.8 mAh/g, while the LiCoO2/Li full cell in the E2 electrolyte system demonstrated a clear capacity decline after 100 cycles until the cell failure. This could be because the CEI and SEI film components formed by this electrolyte system on the electrode surface are not stable enough and dissolve into the electrolyte at high temperatures, causing the electrolyte to constantly come into contact with the electrode surface, resulting in the battery's sudden failure. Furthermore, the E1 electrolyte performs worse at high temperatures. The capacity retention rate of the LiCoO2/Li complete battery with E5 electrolyte remained 82.8% after 500 cycles. It indicates that the cycle life and capacity retention of lithium metal batteries at 70°C can be enhanced by the E5 electrolyte system. This significant enhancement of the overall battery performance indicates even more how well the E5 electrolyte system works with LiCoO2 cathode materials and lithium metal anodes.
Plots illustrating the multiplicative performance of cells built with various electrolytes are displayed in Fig. 2(f). It is evident from the Fig. 2(f) that different electrolytes have varied discharge-specific capacities for LiCoO2/Li complete batteries. With average capacities of 140.4, 136.5, 135.5, 132.3, and 124.9 mAh/g at multiplicities of 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 C, respectively, the cell containing E5 electrolyte demonstrated the best high-temperature multiplicity performance. After cycling at a conventional multiplicity of 1 C, the cell's average specific capacity of discharge was 133.5 mAh/g, indicating that this electrolyte system has less capacity damage to the battery after cycling at a large multiplicity. In contrast, the specific capacity of E1 and E2 electrolytes showed some degradation after cycling at various multiplicities, particularly after large multiplicities and the capacity degradation was severe with 1C cycling. This could be attributed to the creation of an unstable interfacial coating of electrolyte on the electrode surface, resulting in continual electrolyte breakdown and a reduction in the battery's discharge-specific capacity.
The cyclic voltammetric test results of LiCoO2/Li cells assembled with different electrolytes at 70°C are shown in Fig. 2(g-i). First, from the peak potential difference, the peak current ratios of different electrolyte-assembled batteries in the first turn are all greater than 1. This is due to the oxidative decomposition of the electrolyte to form a film on the electrode surface. With an increase in scanning turns, the peak current ratio of the E5 electrolyte approaches one, while the peak current ratios of the E1 and E2 electrolytes remain greater than one, indicating that the two electrolytes continue to decompose, which is detrimental to the battery's cycling performance. Comparing the ΔEp on the CV curves of various electrolytes reveals that the ΔEp of the E1 and E2 electrolytes increases as the number of sweeps increases. This indicates that the battery's polarization phenomenon is intensified, which decreases the battery's capacity. The E5 electrolyte creates a more dense and uniform interfacial coating that can effectively protect the electrodes and slow down the electrolyte's breakdown because it participates in the interfacial reaction with a high concentration of lithium salts. The battery's service life can be extended and its cycling stability can be enhanced by this protection method.
The electrochemical performance of LiCoO2/Li cells was shown to be considerably impacted by varying electrolyte concentrations, as demonstrated by testing the cells using the electrochemical impedance method. Figure 2(k-l) presents the findings. It can be seen that the change of electrolyte concentration will directly affect the performance in the battery, which provides an important reference for further research on the relationship between electrolyte concentration and battery performance The E1 electrolyte's impedance profile is displayed in Fig. 2(j) following 25 and 50 cycles at a high temperature. It is evident from this profile that the impedance rises as the number of cycles increases, suggesting a gradual thickening of the interfacial film. The E2 electrolyte system continues to exhibit an increase in impedance after 25 and 50 cycles, as shown in Fig. 2(k). This could be because the battery contains a lot of organic components in the interfacial membrane during the high-temperature cycling process at 70℃, and the organic components are easily dissolved out of the electrolyte, causing the electrode to re-contact with the electrolyte and causing a side reaction. After extensive cycling, the E5 electrolyte system's battery impedance shows no discernible change, suggesting that the electrode is progressively thickening. The E5 electrolyte system's battery impedance does not noticeably change after extended cycling, indicating that the electrolyte's interfacial coating on the electrode surface is sufficiently stable.
Physical Characterization of LiCoO2/Li Cells
Figure 3 reveal the morphology of the pole piece after cycling at 70°C in different concentration electrolyte systems.As shown in Fig. 3(d-f), after 100 charge/discharge cycles of LiCoO2 cathode in E1, E2, and E5 electrolytes, the E1 and E2 electrolytes form a loose and uneven interfacial film on the cathode's surface, resulting in partial exposure of the cathode material and accelerating the electrolyte's continuous decomposition. On the contrary, E5 electrolyte generates a dense and stable interfacial coating, effectively inhibiting the electrolyte's oxidative breakdown. Therefore, the battery containing E5 electrolyte has better high-temperature stability, which is consistent with the results obtained from the electrochemical performance.
The results obtained by comparing TEM images of different electrolytes after 100 cycles are congruent with the SEM photos. Figure 3(a) demonstrates that the E1 electrolyte generates a thick and non-uniform interfacial coating on the electrode surface, which reduces the cell's high-temperature cycling stability. A constant side reaction between the electrode and the electrolyte will result from the E2 electrolyte's formation of a thick interfacial coating and clear interfacial fracture on the electrode surface, as seen in Fig. 3(b). Furthermore, after 100 cycles in the E5 electrolyte system, a consistent and thick film layer was seen on the positive electrode's surface, indicating that the battery made with this electrolyte system has good stability at high temperatures.
Figure 4 shows the analysis of the interfacial composition after cycling in the electrolyte system with different concentrations. After 100 cycles at 70°C, the cathode's surface was examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to identify the elements of the interfacial film that various electrolyte systems had developed on the cathode material's surface. Two peaks can be observed in the Li 1s spectrum, the peak at 55.4 eV corresponds to Li2CO3 produced by the decomposition of LiODFB in the electrolyte, and the peak at 56.1 eV corresponds to LiF produced by the decomposition of LiTFSI in electrolyte. By comparing the three electrolytes, it can be observed that the content of LiF in the CEI film increases with the rise of the concentration of LiTFSI in the electrolyte, which suggests more TFSI-anions are involved in the interfacial reaction. Comparing the F1s spectra further, we find that LiF corresponds to the peak at 685.2 eV, while -CF2/-CF3 is responsible for the peak at 688.2 eV. Compared to the E2 and E1 electrolyte systems, the electrode surface of the E5 electrolyte has a higher LiF content. While the LiTFSI concentration in E5 electrolyte is higher than that in E2, the peak intensities are close to each other, which suggests that there is more TFSI− involved in the film-forming reaction in the E5 electrolyte, which is in agreement with the results of Li1s spectra. Comparing the peak intensities of -CF2/-CF3, it can be observed that the peak intensities of the E5 and E2 electrolyte systems are much smaller than that of the E1 electrolyte system, which indicates that more organic compounds are formed in the E1 electrolyte system.